


Aoi Asynchronicity

by StudentOfEtherium



Series: Monoganronpa [5]
Category: Bakemonogatari, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Conversations, Gen, Multiplicity/Plurality, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StudentOfEtherium/pseuds/StudentOfEtherium
Summary: Along the riverbank one night, Aoi has a run-in with a crab. It leaves an uneasy feeling, one that she can't discern. But as she begins to unravel what exactly the crab did to her, she starts to realize she might not be totally comfortable with what's to come.
Series: Monoganronpa [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918303





	Aoi Asynchronicity

Aoi Asahina was a vampire. She hadn’t always been, but how that came to be is another story to tell. Being a vampire set her apart from her classmates, naturally, but she found it had less impact on her life than one would typically expect of vampirism. She already arrived at school before sunrise to practice in the gymnasium pool and all she had to do to ensure she could stay until sunset was join an indoor club, especially this late in the year. Doing so had worked out well for her, as among those clubmates, she found she was far from the only one with unusual issues.

The sign on the door read “Folklore Research Club”, and ostensibly that's all they were. However, unofficially, they were much more than that. Be it crabs, cats, vampires, or more, these kids had specific ailments they needed cured. Oddities, supernatural creatures based in belief, were at the heart of the issue. Some members graduated from the club as they figured out their issues. Others, such as Ms. Asahina, had more permanent issues.

It was after a rather usual club meeting, when this story begins. Aoi was walking along the riverbed, slowly making her way home as she always did. Club times could run long, so her parents had learned to expect her late. The river walk was calming, since as a swimmer she was very experienced with water. She considered stopping on a nearby bench, but decided against it. It was late enough that she might miss dinner if she did, and while being a vampire meant she didn't need to eat, she still tried for the sake of keeping up with appearances.

And with that in mind, she picked up her pace. However, it wasn't long before something nearby caught her eye. On the edge of the river was a large shape moving out of the water. She stared at it quizzically for a few seconds before deciding to approach it. As she did, it became clearer. It was a spider, or at least resembled one. Whatever it was, it was nearly as tall as she was. By the type she was only a few feet away, she could see it more resembled a crab. At its front were two long arms ending in pincers.

Aoi dug into her pocket without looking away from the creature. She took several pictures, but the faux shutter sound the phone emitted seemed to reach the arthropod and it turned towards her. The two seemed to stare at each other for some time. Swallowing her fear, Aoi began to back up slowly. However, that broke the silent truce and the crab charged the high school girl. Once it was within range, it reached out an arm and-

Aoi felt herself be shaken awake. Through blurry vision, she could see her parents standing above her, and nearby, a couple of her clubmates. Some indistinct words were said, and then, when it was clear she couldn't understand, repeated more loudly. “Aoi! Are you okay?” Her vision was still blurry. Despite that, she felt herself mumble a response. “I'm fine.” The problem is that Aoi had not said those words. Or at least, had not meant to say those words.

Her mom continued the interrogation. “What happened to you. Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?” Aoi thought for a second. It was unlikely the crab could do anything that her vampiric powers wouldn't heal quickly. “There was a crab. A spider crab, I think.” More words she didn't say. Her parents turned to each other and talked amongst themselves, then turned back to Aoi. “You sure you're okay?” Aoi nodded, her own action. “Yeah. I'm fine.” She placed a palm on the ground and pushed herself up. She turned around towards the road. On the ground behind her, laying in the small path of grass she had just been in, was her phone. She picked it up and checked the time, only to find she had been unconscious for nearly three hours. “No wonder they came looking.” Aoi blinked and looked around for the voice that had said that, but no culprit was immediately obvious.

One of the clubmates, a lanky senior she hadn't talked too much, walked up to her. “Hey, Asahina, you alright? Not any more dead than usual?” She pouted. “I'm fine, Komaeda. Although I have something to mention in club tomorrow.” The pale boy smiled. “I'm sure that will be interesting.” With that, he walked away. The other boy, another senior in the club, walked away with him.

Aoi's parents started ushering her into the car. As they drove back home, their repetitive interrogation continued. “Are you sure you're okay? A spider crab? Out here? Are you sure you didn't accidentally ingest anything, or that you don't need to go to the hospital?” An exasperated voice, the one that wasn't Aoi's, responded once more. “Guys, I'm fine. Trust me.” The pair glanced at each other with concern, but all the same accepted those words. “Alright. But tell us if you start noticing symptoms or this happens again.”

The rest of the ride home wasn't especially notable. Once Aoi was back, her parents brought her to the dinner table. Although it was a little cold, the trio ate, and quickly after Aoi returned to her room. It wasn't long before she started feeling unusually tired. She hurried to prepare herself for bed. Before long, she was laying in bed, curtains closed and lights turned off. In the darkness, as she felt herself drifting off into sleep, a voice, the same voice only she had heard before, rang out. “Who are you?”

She woke up early. Aoi always woke up early. She went through her typical morning, getting dressed and the like. An advantage of waking up hours before her parents was that she didn’t need to eat to pass off appearances. At times, she found herself oddly disconnected from the world, still seeing it, but as a passive viewer rather than an active participant. The feeling never persisted for long and Aoi tried to not think about it much.

It was still well before sunset when she left for school. That gave her time to walk as slowly or as fast as she wanted. Today was a slow morning. She meandered through the city streets and along the river, her usual route. She only paused when she came to the bit of shore she had been waylaid the night prior. She walked over to the shore, trying to see any remaining evidence of the crab’s existence. However, it hadn’t even left tracks. Aoi felt herself taking her phone out of her pocket and taking some pictures and muttering under her breath. “So it  _ is _ an oddity, huh?” She sighed and turned back to the road. She ran the rest of the way to school.

When she arrived, there was still some time before school would begin, so she stopped by the school pool. That being her excuse for arriving early didn’t have to mean it wasn’t something she actually did. She swam for nearly an hour before getting out of the pool and drying herself off. She was nearly always the only person using the pool in the early morning, so she had been given the responsibility to clean and lock it up when she was done. But practice made perfect and by now she knew the routine. However, as automatic as that had become, she still felt even further disconnected from the actions today. A tired yawn let her write it off as exhaustion from the night prior.

Class was about to begin, so she hurried up the stairs and into the classroom, then found her seat. The teacher came in and quieted the class, then let the lesson begin. Aoi did her best to keep up, but ostensible exhaustion kept catching up to her. When called on by the teacher, she was always able to answer the questions, no matter how out of it, and when class broke for lunch, she looked down to find that she had managed to keep up with notes the entire time.

Aoi gathered her school supplies, left the classroom, and made her way across the school to a small room in the corner of the northeast side. It was a room that should not have existed and that did not appear on the school’s blueprints. When looked at from the outside, one would think it was merely a brook closet. However, as the vampire walked through the door, the room revealed itself to be as big as any other classroom in the school.

Some of her clubmates were already there, making conversion. Aoi dropped her bag by the door and found a seat away from the windows. They were already covered in blackout curtains, but she felt more comfortable staying away. Over the next several minutes, classmates and upperclassmen filtered in until there were eight of them in the room. As the last person came in, the classroom fell silent for several minutes, as if everyone was waiting for someone else to speak up. Eventually, it was Aoi who broke that silence.

“So I don’t know if Komaeda or Araragi told you, but I had… an altercation last night. A run-in with a crab.” A tension filled the room. “I don’t know if it’s the same crab, but I don’t think so. I don’t seem to weigh any less than usual.” She pulled out her phone. “I got some photos.” She opened them and put the phone on the table, where it got passed around. Across the room, Hitagi spoke up. “That doesn’t look like the crab that attacked me. It’s near water, too, which mine wasn’t. This is something else.” Aoi nodded. “That’s what I figured. But it did attack me and I still don’t know what effect that had.”

Nearby, a freshman leaned over the table and spoke up. “So, what? What do you think it did to you?” Aoi felt herself sigh and respond. “I don’t know. I guess I need to look into crabs, I guess…” The dark-haired freshmen spoke up again. “Describe it for us. What kind of crab was it?” Aoi bit her lip as she thought, or rather, she subconsciously began biting her lip. “Well, I thought it was a large spider at first, but it had pretty long arms, and pincers too. That’s what it attacked me with. Passed out immediately, so I don’t know if it left no mark or if the wound healed before anyone could see, but my clothes were undamaged asides from fall on the ground.” The freshman, Ougi, spoke up once more. “A spider crab?” Aoi’s body turned to stare at her. “Is that a thing?” Ougi nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, although they don’t typically live inland like this. How big did you say it was?” Aoi’s head shook. “I hadn’t mentioned that, but its body came up to about my chest and its arms were at least as tall as me. It was a big crab.” Aoi was no longer saying the words she was speaking.

Ougi stood up and turned around, facing a bookshelf behind her. She grabbed a book, seemingly at random, before returning to her seat. She opened to, once again, a seemingly random page. “Like this?” On the page were several pictures of spider crabs. Aoi felt herself nod again. “Yeah, like that.” Ougi slammed the book closed, then sat up and spun around to return the book to the shelf. “So we have a culprit, but we still don’t know what it did.” Next to her, another club member, Mukuro, spoke up. “Have you had any symptoms? Has anything felt unusual or different since last night?” Aoi’s head shook and her voice that wasn’t her responded. “I can’t think of anything, unfortunately.” There was a period of silence before Aoi spoke up once more. “Well, I suppose there’s been something.”

She scratched her head as she gathered her words. “I’ve been sort of out of it? Kinda going on autopilot here and there, like in class. I wasn’t really paying attention, but somehow I was able to keep up and my notes didn’t seem to have anything missing.” Mukuro nodded. “Can I see them? I’ll compare.” Aoi nodded and reached into her bag, continuing her debrief as she did. “There’s been a lot of things I didn’t really mean to say that got said anyway. Thoughts I didn’t have getting said aloud. Like I’m not the one talking. Even happened in this conversation.” Mukuro handed the papers back. “These seem complete.”

It was Ibuki who spoke up next. “So clearly this is a split personality!” Everyone turned to face her. She shrugged and defended her assessment. “Not the first time that’s happened to one of us. So it doesn't seem out of the question.” Aoi shook her head. “No, it’s not like that… I don’t have any gaps in my memory like Hanekawa did, and it doesn’t seem like anyone else is taking full control. I’m still me and have been all day. It just feels like sometimes, someone else is doing or saying things in my place.” Mukuro frowned. “Do all multiples need to exhibit the same symptoms as Hanekawa? There can be variance, right?” Aoi sighed. “I don’t think that’s it. It doesn’t feel like there’s anyone else in here. It just feels like me.”

Ougi smiled. “Well, let’s look at this from another angle. There’s several kinds of effects that oddities can have on a person.” She gestured to Hiyoko, who was remaining silent. “You have the possessive types, the ones that linger around and don’t really go away.” She gestured to Hitagi. “You have the types that take an action and leave lingering symptoms, but don’t themselves stick around.” She turned back around and gestured to Aoi. “And there’s the types like miss vamp here who are oddities yet still people. There’s others, of course. Oddities are as varied and unique as people, but as far as this club is concerned, those are the three. And from those three, this crab seems to be akin to the crab that afflicted Miss Senjougahara. It attacked you, had its effect, and vanished. If that is true, then, the question remains, what did it do?”

The room fell silent once more as people thought about it. It was Nagito who eventually broke it. “If we want to follow up on the split personality idea that Mioda brought up, then is it worth considering that the crab, with its sharp claws, cut Asahina’s identity in half?” A few groans arose from the room. Ougi did her best to quell them, before addressing the idea. “It certainly could be. That would explain how Miss Asahina became two. Miss Hanekawa’s multiplicity came about in a method that can be said to be like taking a photograph and placing the negative alongside it as a counterpart, while in this instance, it would be copying the photograph, or cutting it in two. It is still the same image.”

Aoi frowned. “Well, if that is what happened to me, then wouldn’t I be able to tell? Wouldn’t it be obvious there’s another person in here?” Ougi smiled and clapped, the sound muted by her dark gloves. “That’s the thing! If you don’t realize it, then both haves, thinking themselves still one Aoi Asahina, would continue life as normal. Perhaps if not for this conversation, you would’ve never realized it.” Aoi felt herself speak up. “I… I don’t know. The bell’s almost about to ring, though. We should get going. We can talk about this more after school.” There was a murmur of agreement and around the room, people started packing up their lunches. Aoi, of course, had nothing, so instead she stood up and stretched. Others in the club began leaving, but a few lingered until the bell rang, Aoi among them.

As she returned to class, the discussion stayed on her mind. Much like before, despite her dissociated state, she found herself able to keep up with the teacher’s lecture. Despite the fact that she kept thinking about the discussion, she made no progress in figuring out what had happened or if Ougi’s assessment was right. The energetic freshman did have a way with oddities and knew what she was talking about, but Aoi felt at odds with the explanation. Unfortunately, she found it nestled in her thoughts, inescapable. Class flew by and it seems like she only just sat down by the time the bell rang and the teacher dismissed the students.

Before she knew it, she was back in the club room. She blinked and brushed the confusion brought on by her seemingly warped perception of time aside. “So? Having time to think about this, was Ougi’s assessment right, or do we need to start from the beginning?” Koyomi was the one to start the conversation this time. Aoi sighed. “I don't really know. I struggle to dismiss the idea, but it doesn't sit right with me. And if this is the case, what does that even mean for me?” A response rungout from the other side of the table. “It means there's two of you, dipshit. Just like Hanekawa.” Aoi groaned. “Saionji, that doesn't help. Whatever it's like for Hanekawa, it would clearly be something different.” Hiyoko rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it would be. Are we going to stop saying the obvious and repeating stuff we said at lunch, or should I just go home now?”

Ougi smiled and leaned over. “Don't worry, Miss Saionji. I'll do my best to keep you from getting bored.” She turned to Aoi. “Has anything else happened, internally, that's worth noting? Besides the disconnect between your actions and you?” The young vampire thought for a second. “Hm. I suppose there were a few times where it sounded like someone else was talking to me. Only a couple times last night, tho. Dunno if that's helpful.”

Around the room, some groans arose, while Ougi was barely containing her laughter. “I'm glad you made that known eventually.” She calmed herself. “Alright, so I think we can now say with certainty that Miss Mioda’s split personality idea had a basis in reality. Seems the crab cut Miss Asahina in two. What should we do now?” Aoi frowned. “Can we say that with certainty?” Around the table, a number of the members of the club nodded. Aoi sighed.

Silence fell as the group thought. It was Mukuro who first spoke up. “If the two Asahinas are identical as of now, then why don't we try naming them? With Hanekawa, we have Black Hanekawa and White Hanekawa, so couldn't we do something similar here?” Aoi sighed, her voice full of exasperation. “Guys, I'm still not su-” She was quickly interrupted. “What about Murasaki and Midori?” Hiyoko had finally chimed in with a contribution to the conversation. She continued, “We have Aoi but different. Blue, so now we have Midori, green, and Murasaki, purple.” Aoi shook her head. “I still don’t know how I feel about this and you’re already coming up with names for- For this hypothetical unproven idea.”

“But isn’t it proven? You said it yourself, there have been times since the crab cut you that there was a voice in your head that wasn’t yours. If not another you, then what would that be?” Aoi groaned and slumped in her seat. “But as I’ve said, I don’t feel like there’s someone else in here. It’s all just me.” She paused, then hung her head. The last sentence hadn’t been hers. She rubbed the bridge of her eyes and continued where her voice had left off. “And if I am, what next? Where does this go? What does this mean? How do I fix this, or does it even need to be fixed? Hanekawa seems fine with it, but- I just don’t know.” As reality began to catch up with the high school girl, she could do nothing but ask questions.

Ougi nodded along. “These are understandable questions, but I think they have rather simple answers. What next? Well, that’s for you to decide, but I have a few ideas if you want to hear them. Where does this go? Depends where you take it. What does it mean? Depends on the oddity, and for that we need to do more research. That’s also how we’ll know how to solve it, or if it needs to be solved. Going back a bit, one of my ideas ties into Miss Saionji’s suggestion.” Ougi reached behind her to a table along the wall and grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pen. She drew a pair of bodies and numbered them one and two. “Here’s what we have now. One is Aoi Asahina No.1 and one is Aoi Asahina No. 2. I think if we were to give them something to distinguish them asides from that, perhaps we could drive a mental wedge between them. Thus, names. I’m sure this is what Miss Saionji had in mind when she voiced that suggestion.” Without giving the girl clad in traditional clothing a chance to respond, Ougi moved the conversation along. “As is, the two Aoi Asahinas are living nearly in synchronicity with each other, but those few times that synchronization breaks, they have problems, which is likely where Miss Asahina’s aforementioned problem with things being said or actions being taken without her. This likely happens to the other and the two don’t yet realize what’s happening yet.” She turned the paper back towards her and scribbled on it quickly before turning it back to face Aoi and then the rest of the club. Above the two figures, Ougi had written out the two names Hiyoko had mentioned, Murasaki and Midori. “It doesn’t matter which is called which, since at this point, as established, both Aoi Asahinas are functionally the same difference. The rest of this comes down to her, or rather, them. When club ends and we go home today, it’s up to them to catch the moments where the difference between them becomes noticeable.” The gothic girl crumpled the piece of paper as she leaned back in her chair. She tossed it across the room, clearly aiming for the trash can. It hit the rim and bounced off, landing on the ground just a few feet away. She laid her head on the table, then realizing her clubmates were staring at her as though she was still giving a lecture. Without lifting her head, she waved nonchalantly. “I’m done. As I said, now we do research. Business as usual.”

Slowly, the eight high school students found themselves either in conversation with each other or reading one of the myriad books on folklore or myths the room had on its shelf. Those reading found themselves scanning through pages of text as fast as they could to find reference to the issue at the center of conversation or any of the unresolved issues the club had previously been forced to leave hanging. The conversations were of far less importance and came from the club members who didn’t as much want to be in the club as they needed to be. This would typically include Aoi, but today, she found herself lost in thoughtless thought. Any attempt to consider what Ougi had brought forward ended quickly and with no resolution. It was as though her brain simply couldn't process this idea.

Hiyoko was the first to leave. She didn’t have to be there and didn’t especially enjoy the company of her clubmates, so she was frequently the first to leave. Next was Mukuro, who left some time later to watch over her sister. Ibuki left soon after that, which prompted everyone else to start getting ready to leave. Hitagi and Koyomi left together and Nagito not long after them. Before long, Ougi and Aoi were the only two left. Out of a desire to not hear Ougi lecture or exposit any more, Aoi took that as an opportunity to make her leave. Besides, by now the sun had set.

Rather than take her usual route back, Aoi found herself avoiding the banks of the river. This brought her through dark streets and past areas in her town she hadn’t come near in months. Not since- She hurried her pace. Even if the worst had already happened.

It wasn’t too late when she got home. She made her way up to her room and collapsed in bed. The conversation that had been had during lunch and after school still rattled around, but much like earlier, any attempt to think on it came up short. She tried making progress on it, but before long, her mom was calling her down for dinner. She groaned and sat up, then headed downstairs. It was a standard meal with her family, which is to say, she only ate so much as she needed to for appearances. As soon as she could politely excuse herself, she did, at which point she returned to her room.

She dropped herself back in bed and checked her phone. She’d gotten a few texts during dinner, from clubmates. Asking about her condition and if anything had changed. It hadn’t and she responded telling them as much. There was a frivolous back and forth, but Aoi opted to end it early rather than keep talking about the topic now beaten well into the ground. Besides, she still had homework to do.

The next day, she found herself in class once more. While she had tried to find any instances of the asynchronicity Ougi had suggested, none had made themselves known. That is, aside from the now consistent split in attention during class. She spent the morning lost in thought, still considering the possibility that she was now two. Even as she made no progress on it, it was inescapable. In some ways, she was looking forward to getting another chance to talk to everyone when the club would meet again today, as that would be a chance to hear ideas from everyone else again, ideas from people for whom this idea didn’t simply stall out. It had been their suggestions that had taken her this far and she doubted she could get any further alone. But that same fact made her trepidatious. She still had no idea how true any of this was and even as the topic was pursued further, it felt wrong. Everything had felt wrong since the run-in with the crab. It made her feel uncomfortable.

She blinked. Now she was sitting in the club room. “Wha- What just happened?” That elicited strange looks from around the room. It was Mukuro who answered. “We were talking about your issue with the crab.” Aoi hung her head and sighed. “I don’t remember any of that.” She looked back up as she propper her head up in her hands. “What was being said?” Ougi leaned in and propped her head up in a similar manner to Aoi. “We were just passing around theories as to what this could be. You hadn’t spoken much.” Aoi nodded. “Uh huh, uh huh.” Aoi sighed again. “Well, I guess I have some stuff to talk about, then. I mentioned yesterday how there was that disconnect during class yesterday, of being able to keep up with the lecture. That happened again today, and I was more conscious of it. So I guess that’s the biggest split known, especially since today it seems to have persisted even after class. So I guess we know what’s going on then.” Nagito rolled his eyes. “We’ve known since yesterday. You’ve just been in denial.” Aoi glared at him, but didn’t dispute the remark. Mukuro picked up the conversation. “Well, now that we have something to go off of, why don’t we try naming the two Asahinas? We can identify them as the Asahina that pays attention during class and the Asahina that dissociates. That’s all we have to go off right now, but hopefully this leads to better places.”

Ougi nodded enthusiastically and took out a piece of paper with drawings identical to the doodle she had drawn the day before, sans names. “So we say that the Aoi Asahina who is able to keep up with class is Aoi Asahina No.1, while the Aoi Asahina who dissociated, the one we’ve been talking to for the majority of this ordeal, is Aoi Asahina No.2. Thus, we need to assign them names. Instead of referring to them as Aoi Asahina, we will call one Midori and one Murasaki. Do you, Miss Asahina No.2, have a preference?” Aoi shrugged. “Can you give me some time with this? I happen to rather like my name, so-” Ougi interrupted. “And you don’t need to give it up! You’re still Aoi Asahina, but since there are now two Aoi Asahinas, we need something to refer to you, Aoi Asahina No.2, unless you’re fine just being referred to by a number.” Aoi shook her head at that. “Just give me some time.”

For the rest of lunch, the club killed time as they always did, talk or research. Aoi found herself in conversation with Hiyoko, and while she was the active participant in the conversation, in the back of her mind, this issue was only getting more tumultuous. But the conversation kept her grounded and she did genuinely feel like it was her the entire way through. Soon, however, the lunch period was over and everyone had to return to class.

As Aoi sat down and gathered her materials for class, she prepared herself for what was now routine. However, she didn't fall back as easily as before and was able to keep up with the teacher's lesson, even if she wasn't the one taking notes. After a few minutes, an idea came to mind. She tried speaking internally. “Is… Is there anybody there? Hello?” When no response came, Aoi's feelings were mixed. However, before she could process it, she heard a voice. “Huh?”

“Huh?”

There was a second's pause before either voice spoke up again. “H-hello?” “Yes?” They were identical in tone and voice, both of them the voice spoken by Aoi Asahina.

Aoi's hand shot up. “Excuse me, miss. I need to go to the nurse’s office.” The teacher excused Aoi and she felt herself stand up. The class representative stood up as well and the pair made their leave. It was a short walk to the office and once there, the class representative only lingered long enough to ensure Aoi’s wellbeing. Aoi laid in one of the beds for several minutes, letting silence hang both internally and externally.

“So…” “Who are you? Who are we?” “I don't know. If you don't, then how would I? We?” “Well, should we decide on names?” “Probably.” “Do we want to go with the names that Saionji suggested? “I… don’t know.” “I don’t mind the name Midori, but I don’t like Murasaki.” “Neither do I.” “But if we don’t go with those names, then what do we do? I don’t like the idea of going by numbers.” “Neither do I.” “Then we need something else.” “But what?” “I don’t know.” “Neither do I.” “That’s kinda funny, you know?” “That both of us are stuck on this?” “Yeah. Feels fitting.” “Don’t see why we would be any other way.” “Suppose you’re right.” “But going back to names-” “Yeah.” “Murasaki is out, but I don’t hate Midori.” “I don’t either.” “One of us could use Midori and we could come up with another name.” “But what other name?” “Well, if we follow the same thread that Saionji did, then something associated with blue, right?” “Sure, sure.” “What about… Something -kawa? For river, since water is blue and we like swimming?” “Nah. That would feel like taking too much from Hanekawa.” “Hm.” “Hm.” “What about Umi?” “For ocean?” “Yeah, exactly.” “I suppose I don't mind that.” “So is it settled?” “With Midori and Umi?” “Yeah.” “I suppose so. Who gets what name?” “Does it really matter?” “I suppose there's not much to identify us.” “Why not say that the one who was taking notes in class is Umi and the one who participated in club meetings is Midori?” “But which is which? Was I the one taking notes or were you?” “I… don't know?” “Then how do we decide?” “I have no idea.” “Well, then why don't I go by Umi and you go by Midori.” “Sure. Does that mean this is resolved?” “Does it?” “I think so.”

At some point, one of them had covered their eyes with their arm. They sat up and blinked. It was hard to tell how much time had passed during the conversation, but it had been long enough that their eyes adjusted to being closed. As they readjusted to the light, Umi looked to her side and saw Mukuro sitting on a nearby bed, focusing on her phone. The room was still and silent for a few minutes, until Mukuro looked up from her phone at the vampire. “Oh, you’re awake.” Umi smiled awkwardly. “Was I asleep?” Mukuro stood up. “You certainly seemed so. Tried waking you when school ended, but that didn’t work.” Midori stood up. “We were out that long?” Mukuro raised an eyebrow at that. “Yeah, you were. School ended about forty-five minutes ago. You alright for club, or should I try getting you home now.” Umi shook her head. “No, we’re fine.” Mukuro leaned over and grabbed something from the other side of the bed she had been sitting on. “You left your bag in the classroom when you left. Though I imagine you weren’t planning to be gone for as long as you did. Don’t worry, I can catch you up later.” Midori nodded.

The pair left the nurse’s office and walked through the halls and across the school until they came to the club room. Mukuro opened it and held it as Aoi walked in. They smiled and waved to the other people in the room. As they entered, the conversations that had been ongoing before the pair arrived died down and trailed off. Umi sat down and smiled nervously. “Hey?” Her clubmates stared at her expectantly. As Mukuro sat down, an awkward silence began to cover the room. However, it wasn’t more than half a minute before it was broken. It was Ibuki who spoke up first. “So! What happened? Ibuki is curious!” Ougi followed that up. “What happened to make you unconscious for nearly three hours? That doesn’t just happen normally, especially to vampires.” Midori fidgeted. “Well, it doesn’t feel like it had been three hours, but… there was a conversation? Hi, I’m Midori, I guess?” Umi chimed in. “Oh, and I’m Umi. Not Murasaki. Neither of us really liked that name” She turned. “Sorry, Saionji.” Hiyoko rolled her eyes. “It was a frivolous suggestion. I don’t give a fuck if you used it or not.”

Ignoring her, Midori turned back to the center of the table. “We talked. I can’t say we figured out much, but... “ As she trailed off, Umi picked it up. “It’s a start?” Ougi clapped. “Incredible! Just as I would expect just from one of my esteemed upperclassmen. Or should I say two now? I’m glad you were able to overcome this. However, unfortunately, we still know next to nothing about what ailment afflicts you.” Umi groaned and nodded along. “Yeah… But I'm beginning to think it's fine. If I was able to live with being a vampire, I can live with this. I just need to get used to it. We need to get used to it.” Midori spoke up. “But I wouldn't mind knowing more about what causes this. There could be more to this that we don't know about yet.”

From there, the club broke off. Hiyoko took that as her time to leave, but Ougi and Mukuro continued talking to Umi and Midori. The others went back to talking amongst themselves or reading through the room’s numerous texts. The time passed quickly for all and in the blink of an eye, the sun had vanished beneath the horizon. Umi and Midori found themselves leaving alongside others while a few still lingered, a rather uncommon situation. They said farewell to Nagito, Koyomi, and Ougi, then left.

Instead of the winding path through city streets, tonight they decided to return to the river. It was a cold night, even for a vampire. It would only be a few more weeks before snow began to fall. The river would likely freeze over. Midori caught herself wondering what being a vampire would be like when snow was around, while Umi focused on getting the pair home. The only hesitation came when they passed by the spot where they had met the crab. The water was still and the moon was reflecting off the surface. A wholly different scene than just a few nights prior. They didn't linger there for long.

**Author's Note:**

> you see, the joke is that Chiwa Saito, who voices Aoi in both the games and anime, also voices Senjougahara Hitagi, thus the crab association, but also Hazuki/Luna from Tsukuyomi, who are plural vampires


End file.
